MichiganRadio

MSU's best football game ever! ANN ARBOR, MI (Michigan Radio) - The biggest game in the Spartans' long history wasn't one of their 30 victories over Michigan, their six national title-clinching contests or their three Rose Bowl triumphs.

No, the biggest game in Michigan State history was against Notre Dame in 1966 - and it wasn't a victory.

A lot of history went into that contest. Both schools had leveraged their football success to raise the profile and prestige of their universities. Both wanted desperately to get into the Big Ten, but Notre Dame was blocked in the 1920s by Michigan's first big-time coach, Fielding Yost, while Michigan State was blocked in the forties by Michigan's second, Fritz Crisler.

Notre Dame said, to heck with it, and went off on its own to become the only independent power with a national following. But Michigan State knew independence wouldn't work as well for a state school. So the Spartans kept asking the Big Ten to let them in. Watching this, the Irish concluded: An enemy of our enemy must be a friend.

Thus, in 1948, the Irish told the Spartans, Sure, we'll play you. And they've kept doing it all but four years since.

The rivalry gave the Spartans added credibility, helping them win national titles in 1951 and 1952. The next year, when the Big Ten finally let the Spartans join, they celebrated by taking the league title in their first year.

The Irish had to wonder if boosting their friends to national prominence had perhaps worked too well. Since the Irish had won their last national title in 1949, the Spartans had won five.

On November 19th, 1966, it all came to a head in East Lansing. Notre Dame entered the game undefeated, and ranked number one in one poll. The Spartans were also undefeated, and ranked number one in the other poll.

The nation would be watching - or trying to. In those days, colleges were allowed only one national telecast per season, and both teams had already used theirs up. But interest in the "Game of the Century" was so great, fans in the South and West wrote over 50,000 letters to ABC. Can you imagine people today writing 50,000 letters to anyone, about anything?

It worked - sort of. ABC agreed to show the game on tape delay - which, before the internet and cell phones, still allowed most fans to watch it hours later without knowing who had won.

The game attracted 8,000 more fans than Spartan Stadium had seats. State scored first, and took a 10-7 lead into half-time. In the second half, Notre Dame could manage only a field goal - but it was enough to tie the game. With just a minute to play, the Irish got a chance to win the game with the ball on their own thirty yard line, and a minute to play.

But instead of playing to win, Notre Dame coach Ara Parseghian started running out the clock. The crowd booed lustily, but Parseghian stuck to his guns. There was no overtime then, and he knew a tie would not cost the Irish another national title, like the one they lost to the Spartans the year before, after Notre Dame lost to Southern California.

Not this time. When Notre Dame swamped Southern California the next weekend, 51-0, Parseghian won his first national title - but he's been answering for his decision ever since.

The Spartans earned a share of the national title, too. But don't feel sorry for either team. Feel sorry for Alabama's Bear Bryant, whose team went 11-0 - and won nothing.

And that's the story of the Game of the Century - the biggest game any college team ever tied.
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